Your life isn’t going how you’d hoped. Despite having big plans when you graduated, you're stuck in a dead end job and a crappy flat with zero romantic life to speak of. All until a friend convinces you to join the cast of a new reality TV show.
The premise is simple: 12 singles are sent to a villa on a tropical island and they live there together for a month. After 28 days, the couple who is voted by the other islanders as being most likely to withstand the test of time will win £500,000. In addition, the couple with the highest body count will win £500,000. Total prize pool? £1,000,000.
In this context, “body count” refers to how many people you’ve slept with... right? Well, that’s what you think when you sign your contract. Turns out, though, that not all of your fellow cast members will be using that definition to get to the prize.
Fall in love, win big money, solve some murders and try to stay alive.
A fully customisable MC, from gender to appearance to personality.
A heavily character driven story, where you can build and break relationships with your fellow cast members and the show’s production team.
Find romance in the Body Count villa, with male, female and non-binary ROs.
The twist? No one is safe. Who dies? You decide. A reader vote will determine which characters fall victim to the villa killer.
Note: this game and blog will be strictly 18+! Consider yourselves warned xoxo
Question, when we do eventually get an update will our saves transfer over? I may have spent a good 5 or so hours playing the game with a different love interest on each save and am curious if i will need to do that again when the update comes out or not.
hopefully! but i might need to tweak some coding - i've had A Lot of thoughts in the time i've been away haha. i can try and add a save builder though, if that would be helpful?
it's okay to take time to work on things and the joy of creating is just as important as the end product - more so, even!
if you're really this frustrated by a lack of update on any WIP that you're following then you can simply stop following and imagine in your little mind palace that it has been abandoned and it'll have the same effect ❤️
firstly, i do see and appreciate all your super lovely kind asks and well wishes, so thanks to everyone reading this for your ongoing support and good vibes!! i'm not on tumblr a tonne but it is really buoying to know that there are people out there who care about body count and me 🥰
i'm sure some of you are like nell what the hell have you been doing?! and the short answer is basically that i had another baby (!!!) and my world has been absolutely rocked by having two precious little humans to grow and care for. i'm extremely happy and extremely tired and extremely busy.
so, what about body count? i'm doing what i can to make progress on body count and it is by no means abandoned, but its very slow going. to put it mildly, most days i don't even get to pee by myself, let alone have time to write hahaha! i get that it's frustrating and disappointing for those of you who are eagerly awaiting an update and i am so grateful for your ongoing patience 🥰
Interactive Fiction Community Raffle for Palestine!
Over 50 authors and artists from the Interactive Fiction community here on tumblr have come together to offer an array of prizes for a focused donation drive! We are aiming to raise as much money as possible for five families who are currently trying to evacuate Gaza. These fundraisers have been vetted by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi (thank you for your hard work!)
RULES:
You MUST donate a minimum of €5/$5 USD to one of these five fundraisers to qualify for a ticket. These are the currencies the GFMs are in (3 in euro, 2 in USD). We chose this amount because it is the minimum GFM allows and we are hoping to encourage as many donations as possible. Please be mindful that GFM does not show the conversion rate if you're donating outside your currency.
Donating once to all five GFMs will get you five tickets. And for each extra 5 you donate, you will get an extra ticket. (ie donating 10 to one GFM gets you 2 tickets, 15 gets you 3, etc.)
There are two tiers we will be pulling prizes from: one tier for writing, and one tier for art. When you submit your proof of donation, you will be asked to specify which tier you want your ticket to go towards. If you are submitting for more than one ticket, you will specify the tiers for each ticket-- you can spread them out between both tiers or put them all towards one.
You will be required to share a receipt/proof of donation via uploading a picture through google forms. We will not be handling any money. You are donating directly to the GFMs, and then showing us proof that you have done so. Please include the GFM and the amount you've donated in the screenshot you upload. We are only taking donations starting from June 7th onward.
We plan to raffle off all possible prizes using a random generator. Once the drive concludes on the 21st, we'll take a few days to gather up & organize the tickets and draw names, and then we will be in touch with winners both on tumblr and via email.
You can find the full list of contributors and prizes here.
Please understand that these prizes are pulled blind and assigned at random. You cannot pick or choose which writer/IF or artist you get. It is completely randomized. You get what you get-- even if you aren't familiar with the writer or their game. Artists and authors also have the right to refuse your request at their discretion. Please be respectful and remember that our main goal and focus here is fundraising for these families.
Abdullah Mohammed and his family
Mohammed Bardaweel and his family
Bilal Salah's family
Suad and her family
Firas Salem and his family
We encourage you to share these families and their fundraisers here and elsewhere. We're hoping by focusing our efforts we can really make a big impact for all of them.
Ticket submission form:
Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).
happy holidays nell!!! literally was just sitting and scrolling through tumblr and suddenly thought ugh i miss atticus 😔 so here i am stalking this blog bcs apparently it's atticus missing hours™️
now i'm not going to rush you to update the story. take all the time you need! i'm just wondering, if you would release patreon snippets to public? because i miss those! and i swear i remember you had another twine game where you put those snippets/short stories?? ...or was i wrong?
fuck it, yeah, alright! for anyone who, like me, is in their missing body count hours and wants some juicy extra content, you can now (hopefully) all access the body count bonus hub here:
had a lot of lovely messages asking how i'm doing and i am super touched that people are thinking of me during the festive szn! i'm doing okay - just getting my shit rocked daily by a rambunctious little human whose greatest loves are busses, porridge and the elderly. sending love out into the ether to you all!! 💕
yeah actually i just made a post about how i missed having time for writing for frolicks and laughs and i actually am releasing a meaty new update tomorrow x
it's october! having a lovely autumn but phew some days my heart just aches for the time when i could spend a day on the sofa writing. hope you're all doing well 💕
it's already the middle of august (what the fuck??) so just wanted to drop in and say hi! post a lil update, check in etc
i am still working on body count, but in tiny weeny little snatches of time that i have now in between work and taking care of bébé and (if i can fit it in) myself.
i've decided that i won't be going back to patreon for the foreseeable future - i just don't have the time to make it work and if i want body count to be a fun little hobby for myself then i don't want to try to monetise it, yaknow? it had sort of become a source of stress and pressure and i have enough of those elsewhere, so i don't need another hahaha.
here and there i've also been working on some simpler projects just to help get back into the right head space, but who knows if they will turn into anything i want to share in the future. shout out to post-apocalypse WIP and parties WIP, maybe one day you'll even get named! i really enjoyed working on a shorter thing for neo-twiny jam, so i might even do more itty bitty twine stuff, who knows.
anyway, i know the ideal update would be like 🎉wooo i've written a billion words yeehaw🎉 so sorry i don't have anything juicier, but yeah. still alive! still tiptapping my laptop keys whenever i can.
need to admit this to you but i got love island and body count mixed up and was thinking 'wonder what adegoke from love island is up to. it's like nobody even remembers him' yes because he's actually a character from hit interactive fiction game body count and not fucking real 😭😭😭😭😭😭
sorry but this fuckin killed me hahahahaha why DOES nobody remember adegoke from love island?!?!?!
i'm sorry if this is annoying i'm just a little confused. i played the demo of body count last september and i think you said you're continuing it on twine but i can't figure out how to access that. i tried your patron but that doesn't seem to be active. is the game still being worked on?
ye babe just click the demo link in my pinned post and it'll take you right there! xoxo
for the ROs doing the barbieheimer double feature, who is seeing barbie then oppenheimer and who is seeing oppenheimer then barbie?
i think they would all go oppenheimer then barbie, the only sane and correct way???
although once they are released to the public charlie would be very interested to do the special third way (watch barbie until barbie says "do you guys ever think about dying?" then pause it and watch oppenheimer to completion before returning to finish out barbie)
the main question would be whether to start drinking before oppenheimer, before barbie, or to do it all sober (to answer: rowan would for sure start oppenheimer, adegoke and ellis before barbie and charlie and vinh not at all)
If t0m cruise wasn't like That (derogatory) would Syd be watching Mission Impossible instead? Or are they not much into movies in general? I feel like they would love the risky scenes but also not the kind of person to sit long enough for a movie, no matter what
syd would probably have worked On mission impossible tbh but they usually skip out on premieres. they love action movies but more from a work standpoint than leisure i guess??? there's just other stuff they normally prefer to do with their Free Time
Hi everyone, you may know me from around the IF community, probably primarily from here, but you may also be familiar with some projects I've worked on as an editor (the two most prominent being @bodycountgame and @nyehilismwriting's Project Hadea) or other things I've done around the place. Regardless, it's my intention to set up a place here to provide proof-reading and other editing services in order to help people in the IF community who may struggle with doing it themselves for whatever reason (be that due to time, or difficulty, or anything else).
What's on Offer?
We all know that being an interactive fiction author is a HUGE undertaking - we're our own planners, publicists, programmers and also editors a large amount of the time - and sometimes it can be a lot to grapple with. I also know from personally interacting with a lot of authors that editing in particular can feel intimidating for people who don't do it often, and lots of people feel like they don't get it right or don't trust their own judgement with it. That's a normal feeling for anyone inexperienced in a certain skill to go through, but also it turns out that luckily, the internet exists!
For a fee, I can hopefully take some of the stress out of the process by doing copy, line or developmental editing for you, or a combination of the three in some way, shape or form. This doesn't give me any control over your work, obviously, and any suggestions that I make will be just that, suggestions - though like any editor worth their salt, I'll always do my best to explain what I'm suggesting and why, so that you can hopefully make an informed decision about what you want to do about it.
See below the cut for more information, along with pricing and some basic FAQs. Thanks for reading!
So, how does it work?
Well, it's pretty simple, really - you reach out and talk to me about what you want edited, I'll let you know how many (if any) jobs are in my queue currently, we'll confirm what the price will be, and then you decide if you want to go ahead with contracting my services. If we agree to work together, you'll sit back and relax after finishing the exhausting writing process, or, if you're really a glutton for punishment, start writing something new, and I'll do the editing. Then I'll return it to you, and send you an invoice. Easy!
I'm not going to hover over your shoulder demanding certain changes be made or be offended if you disagree with me - that's not a good editor's function, in my personal opinion. What you choose to do with my editing suggestions afterwards is entirely up to you!
FAQs
What's the difference between copy editing, line editing and developmental editing?
Most people editing for themselves do all three different types of these at once, but they are actually three separate skillsets. Copy editing is another term for what's sometimes called proof-reading; basically, it's checking for spelling and grammar mistakes (including homophones and so forth) but not for other purely textual elements like ineffective word usage or weak sentence structures. Anything beyond basic grammatical correctness is covered by what's called line editing, which looks at some common things people worry about like overused words, weak metaphors or other imagery, and sentences or segments of the text that can possibly be written in a way to more effectively convey the message they're trying to get across.
Developmental editing is a whole other ballgame - this is the part that most often makes authors nervous, the act of considering the text in terms of the effectiveness of each paragraph and story beat, analysing which parts of the narrative and various character arcs are working and which aren't, and so forth. This is a type of editing that is heavy on critique, and very subjective: it's akin to the kind of feedback you might get from beta readers in many senses.
You don't have to want all three types of editing in order to contract my services for, say, just one, but developmental editing on its own will be by negotiation, and likely be an hourly fee rather than a per word cost. You also can't have line editing without copy editing, as it would be impossible to make sure it's effectively-written without making sure it's correct. (You can have copy editing without line editing, however.)
Do you accept works from people whose first language is something other than English?
Yes, this is not a mitigating factor for me. I've worked on some pieces by French- and Brazilian Portuguese-speaking authors before. My editing suggestions come with explanations of why I'm making them, so it should be clear even for ESL authors what I'm suggesting and for what reason. I'm not a translator (unless you're talking about from Akkadian or Sindarin), but as long as you're capable of having a conversation in English, we should be fine.
How should I format my files for you to work on? And how will I get them to you/receive them back?
The two most preferable options are either in a Word Document, or a GoogleDoc document, as these formats both allow me to highlight parts of the work and comment on it directly so that you can see my suggestions. Any other format will make the whole process difficult for both of us as it will require cross-referencing between your work and my responses.
It doesn't have to be formatted in any fancy way, though - as long as it's in the document and readable, even just via basic copy/paste from wherever else you write, that's fine.
We can exchange the files via email or discord, whichever makes you feel more comfortable.
Do you accept jobs unrelated to interactive fiction?
Yes! I've edited novels and short stories before as well, and done work specifically providing developmental editing on outlines so that authors can feel they have a well-fleshed out plan before they begin writing. It's just that there's not many editors out there who are familiar with the IF scene, so that's my marketing focus, so to speak.
You write using British spellings... do you know how to edit for American spellings, too?
Yes, I know how to edit for AusE and AmE as well as BrE. Many authors also use a combination of multiple spelling systems, which I can work with as long as you let me know your style and parameters.
My game is written in the style of Shakespeare... can you handle that?
Individual style, both affected and inherent, is not really a roadblock for most editors. The job of a good editor is to consider each author's personal style and make sure to respect it, rather than try to overwrite it with their own voice, so if you're writing a Tolkienian or Arthurian or epic poetry piece, I'm capable of working with that as long as you let me know what you're aiming for beforehand.
If you have a style guide with particular specifications, feel free to submit it along with your documents, and I'll abide by its specifications. I've worked on projects ranging from high fantasy to scifi to modern fiction in the past.
Can I break my writing up into multiple parts to give to you over time?
Sure! All of the interactive fiction work I've done thus far has been chapter-by-chapter, and you can break it down smaller if you like. However, I can't necessarily bring forward developmental editing concerns from one job into another at peak reliability, particularly if a long period of time has passed between the different jobs.
That's probably all for the FAQs for now - if you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out and ask!
Pricing
How much the editing will cost is based on the length of what you would like me to edit, split up into three length categories: under 10k words, 10k-100k words, and over 100k words. Prices are in AUD, Australian dollars. Per-word rates round up (ie., at a rate of 1c per 5 words, 6 words would incur the cost for 10 words).
Under 10,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word.
Line editing: a flat $15 fee on top of the price of copy editing.
Developmental editing: a flat $20 fee on top of any other costs, or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
10,000 to 100,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word for the first 10,000 words, followed by 1c per each 3 words for the remainder.
Line editing: a flat $30 fee on top of the price of copy editing.
Developmental editing: a flat $80 fee on top of any other costs, or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
Over 100,000 words
Copy editing: 1c per word for the first 10,000 words, followed by 1c per each 3 words for the remainder, plus a flat $20 fee for each 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur a $20 fee on top of the per-word price, while 250,000 words will incur $40).
Line editing: a flat $40 fee on top of the price of copy editing, rising incrementally per 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur a $40 fee, while 250,000 words will incur $80).
Developmental editing: a flat $80 fee on top of any other costs, rising incrementally per 100k words after the first (ie., 150,000 words will incur an $80 fee, while 250,000 words will incur $160), or an hourly fee by negotiation if without the other two services.
Code-checking
If you're able to include your code with your writing (such as by viewing a proofing copy of a game via twine), and provide me with an outline of your variables and what you're using them for, I can by request check for possible errors (such as adding to a stat when it seems like it should be subtracting instead, or using a wrong or misspelled variable) for a flat fee of $80 per 100,000 words (in this case, the code is included in the wordcount, since I'll be checking it).
Outline Help
If you want me to look over an outline or plan and provide developmental feedback before you begin writing, this can be done for an hourly fee by negotiation.
Thank you again for reading! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
